Gardening Woes
by jennytork
Summary: All Sammy wants is to have a garden - is that too much to ask? Apparently it is, causing Dean and Cas to call in some help.


GARDENING WOES

I don't know who you are,

Why you have given me this task.

But if it'll help my baby brother,

I'll do whatever you ask.

You don't know who we are.

You don't know how we were raised.

You don't know how much a home means,

You don't know how bitter its lack tastes.

I know you wouldn't guess from the state of his room,

But this is home to both of us, yes.

And if you could see how he lights up

When I cook for him, you wouldn't have to guess.

I don't know if you know about money,

Or how it feels when it's at an end.

The two of us, we've never had much,

And even now there's a limit to what we can sell or spend.

But that's why he's done what he's done.

He's just trying to help us out, keep us fed.

But somehow, someone, somewhere,

Is turning it into something he's coming to dread.

If it's not the weather, come on!

It's either not enough rain or a downpour in a squall!  
Suppose it could be worse, though.

Kansas is Tornado Country, after all.

But that's not the worst of it.

No, not by a long shot.

Who in the deepest circles of Hell

Thought to add creatures to the pot?

There's a dragon curled round the apple trees,

Giving us the evil eyes.

There's a pixie guarding the cornfield

As if it won some sort of prize.

There's a pair of nymphs in the creek,

There's a doxie roaming the bean plants.

There's a freaking troll moved into the tomato patch,

And I swear I saw a baby elephant!

Look, I don't know who you are,

And I don't really care about this task.

But all Sammy wants to do is have his garden.

Come on, is that too much to ask?

Dean lifted his fingers from the keys and hit 'save' and 'print'. He moved to the small portable printer they'd managed to buy and pulled the poem from it. "Cas, you better be right about this."

"I usually am."

Dean froze, blinking. He turned to face the angel and gasped, "Did you just ..."

"A statement of fact. Nothing more." A slight smile – just enough to hint at a nose wrinkling in amusement – came with the finished statement: "I can't help it if you choose to hear that as deadpan humour."

"What am I gonna do with you?" Dean groaned and headed for the door. "One of us is clearly a bad influence on you."

Cas chuckled, then called, "I will bring the other supplies for the ritual."

"You do that," Dean muttered, heading outside.

He found Sam sitting under the shelter he'd built, curled impossibly small and looking over his knees at the massive yard he'd worked so hard to transform. "Hey."

Sam didn't move or reply.

"I wrote the stupid poem," Dean said. "Wanna hear it?"

"No."

"Well, at least it's a reply. Anything change?"

"I think there's a spider as big as my foot crawlin' around now."

Dean winced. "Aw, Sammy..."

Sam just shook his head and dropped his forehead onto his arms, letting out a sigh that seemed to come from his toes. "I don't understand, De. I just wanted to make a garden, to save us some money and give us healthier food. Why is this happening?"

Dean's lips twitched with emotion. _De._ Sammy only ever called him that when he was really hurting. He reached out and touched the flat of his palm between Sam's shoulderblades. When Sam flinched slightly, but then relaxed completely, sensing it was his brother, Dean began to gently rub in circles, wincing as he felt the knots of tension that rolled up and down his baby brother's spine.

"I don't know, Sammy," he breathed. "I don't know why this is happening. You had good motives-"

"Just like every other time I screwed up."

Dean felt his eyes close and he shook his head. "We're not talking about that right now. That has nothing to do with this."

"What if it does?" Dean opened his eyes to find Sam had turned his head and was looking at him, while his temple rested on his arms. "What if all this is happening because something, somewhere, determined that the Boy-King Who Started The Apocalypse needed to be punished?"

"We don't have proof of that," Dean said after he took a deep breath. "Besides, I don't think anyone or anything could beat you up as badly as you beat yourself up."

Sam's lips twitched and he returned his gaze out over the infested garden. "It would make sense, though. That would be a logical reason behind all of ... this."

"It would, at that," Cas said as he walked up to the brothers.

Dean's head snapped around, mouth opening to deliver a verbal beat-down to the angel, when Cas held up a hand and plowed on, "It would be a logical reason. However, that is not the case at all."

"How do you know?" Sam asked, turning his head to look at Cas. "Wait – you did the ritual?"

"I did the ritual," Cas said, holding out a hand to his side.

To the brothers' visible surprise, a slender green hand appeared from thin air to clasp Cas's. A very female form shimmered into view, green as the grass, wearing an outfit that seemed to be made of autumn leaves. Her long black hair flew around her as if it were in a perpetual breeze, and her large dark eyes focused on Sam.

"Who are you?" Dean asked.

Her lips curled into a smile, though her eyes didn't leave Sam. "I have many names," she said in a voice that held the faintest of exotic accents. "Chun will serve me for now."

"June?" Sam asked, frowning. "No...that's a ch sound, not a juh sound. My apologies."

Her head tilted. "I will forgive, as it was from ignorance." Her eyes swung to Dean. "I have seen the plea you created. The love for your brother was clear, and the irreverence was... somewhat refreshing."

Dean opened his mouth again, and Cas shook his head sharply. Dean licked his lips and said instead, "I meant it."

"I am aware," Chun said, crouching to look directly into Sam's eyes. "Are his words the truth?"

"I don't know," Sam whispered. "I didn't read it."

Chun broke into a smile. "Honesty rather than deflection and deception. You were correct, God-shield. He is unique."

"They both are," Cas said.

Dean looked at Cas. "'God-shield'?"

"My name," Cas said. "She sees us through the meanings of our names."

Dean swallowed hard. "...she-she does?"

"Yes, Valley-of-law, I do." She touched Sam's shoulder. "This one's name matches his spirit. He truly has been Heard-by-God." She looked up at Dean. "More than once."

Sam turned his eyes back to the field. "Then I don't understand."

"This was something the previous owners of this place set into motion," Chun explained. "They meddled with magicks they did not fully understand. Magick has consequences, and those effects must go somewhere. This is – well, for lack of a better word, this is a pen for the creatures and consequences that those blind fools released."

Sam's eyes widened and he uncurled slightly from the tight little ball, barely aware that Dean's hand was on his back supportively – just in case it was sore from sitting like that for so long. "Wait," Sam gasped. "Wait, this... this wasn't _me?_ This wasn't something that I—-"

Chun laughed softly and cupped his cheek softly in both her hands, her eyes boring into his. "No, precious one. This was nothing of your doing. In this, you were an innocent. This is on those who came before you."

Cas asked, "So, Chun, since he was innocent-"

"No need to finish that question, God-shield. The three of you only needs must go into the dwelling until dawn. I shall do the rest."

Dean nodded. "And the price for your aid? Cause nothin' comes for free."

Her smile grew. "The price is that when I am finished, I shall leave behind a gift for you, and it must be used in the garden. I do this for you – you do this for me. Each of us wins." She gestured toward the bunker. "Now go, children. Go."

Dean tugged Sam to his feet and supported him as they went back inside the Bunker.

Waiting was never the Winchester brothers' strong suit – and if Cas hadn't been there reinforcing that they were safe and watching over them as they rested, they probably would have gone out more than once just to watch Chun work.

As it was, they lasted until their breakfast of cereal and coffee had been eaten, then they headed outside to see what the new day would bring.

The garden was scoured. There were plowed rows, ready for planting. The apple trees were free of the dragon. The only sounds were the normal insect and bird calls the brothers were used to.

"Whoa," Dean breathed. "This is..."

"Seeds!" Sam gasped. "Dean, she left seedlings and seeds! There's everything I need here! She asked me to use what she left – better believe I'm gonna use these!"

Dean shook his head and chuckled fondly as he watched Sam begin to replant the garden. He looked over at Cas. "Can she be trusted?"

"Absolutely," Cas nodded. "So long as she isn't crossed, she will ensure the garden co-operates with Sam."

"You never told us who she is," Dean pointed out.

Cas looked at him and smiled one of those rare, blinding smiles that seemed to bathe his entire face with joy. "No, I didn't. Chun is the queen of the earth spirits."

Dean frowned. "She's a faerie?"

"No, she's not a fae. I think the closest words in English to describe her are..." He hummed, thinking. "...Mother Nature?"

Dean's head snapped around to watch Sam work, jaw lowering in shock. "...whoa..."

END


End file.
